Fairbury’s new City Manager, Collin Bielser, hit the ground running with his first week on the job, which began Monday, July 27. He is using this time to make new connections with people in the city and to gather new ideas to implement in Fairbury.

Bielser, a native of Kansas, received his degrees from the University of Kansas. He explained that he has two Master’s Degrees: one in urban planning and the other in public administration. Throughout the course of his career, Bielser has worked in various positions and locations.

“I’ve worked in Kansas City, so I’ve got big-city experience,” said Bielser. “I’ve worked in Douglas County, which is where KU is at, so, I’ve got big-county experience. Then, I went to small towns. I went to Eudora, Kan. for two years and did economic development. Then, I went to Baldwin, Kan. I was there two and a half years. I have close to five years experience in cities.”

A group of dedicated individuals is determined to bring the Legion baseball field up to state code so that Fairbury can host more tournaments.

Justin Goranson, Tammy Klaumann, Dave Griffin, locals, and others are pushing for change. One member of this team, Ron Hilligas, is resolved in his efforts to help Fairbury reach its full potential. He believes that fixing the issues at the Legion Field will make it safer for players as well as attract more people to Fairbury.

“Why do we want to do the field renovations?” asked Hilligas. “First of all, player safety. The main reason why I’d like to get this field project completed is, our field is not regulation to host the state tournament.”

The people of Fairbury are using less energy during this summer than they used in the summer of 2014. In the first 16 days of July, people used only 4,078,950 kilowatt-hours, which is down by over 150,000 kilowatt-hours from last year.

The average temperature for the first 16 days of July 2014 was 85 degrees. For the same time period in July 2015, the average temperature has remained the same. When there are high temperatures, there tends to be an increase in the amount of kilowatt-hours used.

Although there is a correlation between the high heat and energy usage, Larry Naiman, Assistant Superintendent of Utilities at Fairbury Light and Water, believes there are other issues that affect the amount of energy usage that go beyond average temperatures.

In the coming weeks, the Fairbury Journal-News will be running a multi-part series about poverty and economic-assistance programs in Jefferson County. This series will examine not only data, but views from multiple sides about these programs and what can be done about poverty.

Some of the issues that will be covered include: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—formerly known as food stamps—Unemployment Insurance Benefits, food insecurity, poverty guidelines and other issues.

This series will provide data about how these programs have changed over the past few years. However, it will also provide personal stories from people who work with these programs, those who are critical of such programs as well as from people who are receiving economic assistance.

What started out as a small hobby garden for a rural Plymouth woman has grown into a major project and small, seasonal side business. Nancy Heidemann cares for on average about 400-500 flowers and keeps adding more each year.

Heidemann began growing daylilies in the year 2000 just as a hobby in a small garden outside her home. Since then, the lilies cover much of her front yard and the entire ditch lining her driveway.

“Growing the daylilies started out as a hobby that went crazy, I just really enjoy gardening and I've found that it's a good way to be in nature, as well as exercise,” Heidemann said.

People who drive by or know of the farm, make a trip down Heidemann's driveway to view the flowers. Regular visitors also come by when the flowers are at their peak in July to view or buy some lilies.

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) brought more than 8,000 of its student leaders, members and advisers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. July 6-9 to participate in its National Leadership Conference.

Attending from Fairbury High School were Rosalyn Bray, Sophomore, and Kay Onnen, FCCLA adviser and Family and Consumer Science educator.

In addition to the many learning and networking experiences offered at the conference, more than 30 Family and Consumer Sciences related events, also known as STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition). Events were offered, providing competitions in such areas as Culinary Arts, Knowledge Bowl, Career Investigation, and Fashion Construction for more than 4,000 event participants. Rosalyn competed in the National Programs in Action, Student Body event and received a Gold Medal for her STAR presentation on Juvenile Diabetes.